Sherlock Holmes Inn

Look for a sign hanging above Collins street and a stairwell descending under the streets of Melbourne and you can be transported to another time and place. The place might be Britain and the time might be that of Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson.
On your first few visits you need to wander around the different sections of the bar and read up on all the Sherlockian characters and references. Once you’ve done that, you can settle down to watch the sport with an English ale or bitters and grab a pub feed. I particularly recommend the Long Pride Bitter or the Tetleys.
While I love the feel of this place, it did lose a star because the food is quite average. I had the steak on the $ 20 steak night and asked for veges and no chips and got an undercooked gristley steak with a large serve of broccoli and a bean or two. I gues you get what you pay for.
They do feature a rotating selection of local and overseas beers so check the specials board on the way down and ask the bartender for recommendations.
I recommend the Sherlock Holmes for a Friday lunch or an after work drink, or just for fans of Sherlock from all eras.

I am a huge fan of the Sherlock Holmes Inn.
I love the vibe, the look, the beer, and the location.
I’ve passed Sherlock on the tram numerous times, just seeing the sign and thinking to myself, ‘I want to go there.’ Finally, I got to it, and I was so pleased. It’s in a basement, and that just adds to its charm.
The bartender was so nice and friendly, I had a Hobgoblin to drink. I loved the posters they had up, the place had a real U.K. feel to it. They do have TVs on to watch sports, with plenty of tables and space. It’s an inviting atmosphere with nothing overwelming.
I’ve heard from a friend that they have the best parma’s in Melbourne, but I have yet to judge.

This was the second reason I recently went to Melbourne. A Sherlock Holmes themed pub… brilliant. I love Mr. Holmes, I really do and so I was super keen to check out what was on offer here.
It’s semi tucked away from all the other pubs and bars so it was a bit tricky to find — but the gorgeous little sign of Sherlock and his pipe hanging above the door lets you know that you’re in the right place.
When you walk in everything is just about what you’d expect it to be — except for the clientele. For some reason I thought that it would be full of middle aged or young tourists wearing their woollen clothing while they read or wrote. No no, suits as far as the eye can see! It’s location in the more business oriented district is reason enough for this. To be fair I did spot a rather adorable younger chap who dined alone and coyly pulled out a copy of ‘A Study in Scarlet’ and began to read with the biggest grin ever on his face.
We were shown to a table by a simply lovely lady and she took our orders for drinks right away and recommended a few things to us on our menus. I decided to go with the traditional Bangers and Mash with Cumberland Sausages and my friend had the Beef and Guinness Pie. Both were delicious. The gravy that came with those sausages… I honestly could have ordered more and just slathered my meal in it. It was just good old fashioned home cooked food. And when you’ve been living on take away for a week it’s just what you need.
I cannot speak highly enough of the staff who work there and that’s the main reason they’re getting 5 stars. They constantly asked us how everything was and if we needed anything else. Just observing they knew people there by name, knew their orders and knew their favourite places to sit. It left me with a goal to somehow become a regular there! They just treat all their customers really really well and service like they provide in the more populated cities is just so darn hard to find.

Do not go here!!! I would give this a zero if I could…
Rude waitress and unappetising food!!! I ordered buffalo wings and side chips. What I was served was grilled chicken tenders that had been crumbed in a Parma/​schnitzel fashion and had seemed to be lightly spread with sweet chilli sauce. The ‘wings’ also came with some sort of honey mustard garlic aoli instead of ranch they had also omitted the celery sticks. The ‘wings’ had zero flavour not even salt. The one ‘wing’ I had was surprisingly more pleasant than the attitude of the waitress. When I advised her that these were not buffalo wings she took my plate away. When she returned she rudely told me ‘these are our version of buffalo wings’ (by that logic I could have asked for steak and received a hamburger) I simply stated the above in regards to the fact that it was not actually buffalo wings and it was false advertising. She looked at me, rolled her eyes and said ‘we’ll what do you want me to do about it while I stand here holding this plate’ I advises her that I would just eat my chips but I refuses to pay for the ‘wings’. Thankfully they did not charge for the ‘wings’ but they did charge us for large chips and by that point I could not be bothered arguing. I will not return. This was mostly because of the extremely rude waitress and her poor level of customer service skills.

Good selection of beers on tap including old speckled hen, hobgoblin, Kilkenny and Guinness just to name a few. Bar has what seems to be an «old English» vibe which somewhat works but everything seems so clean that it seems too new to pull off authentic. This is probably compounded by the bar staff not being British, but that’s expected given the pub is in AU. However whilst we were visiting there was a group of patrons that were which added to the good vibe.
Good stop for fresh draught beers from England/​Ireland. Probably not the cheapest prices around but you can pick up a Hobgoblin, or opt for a pint of Kilkenny or Guinness for $ 10.
For events they run EPL on Saturday nights and have a roast special on Monday (this bar is closed Sunday). Plenty of screens for viewing sports.

«I want to find a British pub,» he said and completely by chance as we took the tram down Collins Street towards Southern Cross Station, a British pub we did find. The Sherlock Holmes Inn is unsuspecting (as you may assume it would be) and sits below ground where the entrance stairs lead you into a simple but cosy pub. I will confess, I had expected something rowdy (there was an AFL and NRL match on this particular evening) and uncomfortable but found myself greeted with the opposite.
The Sherlock Holmes crowd this eve were quiet and it was definitely not full to capacity. It was the perfect spot for a quick drink, him enjoying a beer, me a gin and tonic before dinner in a bar I think many a Melbournite may forget even exists.

On one of my hunts for a good pub in the CBD, I dragged my pals to The Sherlock Holmes after work one day to check it out. One of my friends had warned me that it would most likely be filled with old suits who worked around this part of the city and he wasn’t wrong — the downstairs pub was full and noisy, but not exactly in the way I’d personally prefer. We got some looks when we entered and we were out of place, wearing denim and tan instead of suits and grey. Still we scored a table as some people left and ordered a pint each of Old Speckled Hen, which was a great beer and which I haven’t seen in any other pub.
The interior of the pub is quite old English but not in a dank and uninviting way as so many CBD pubs are. I can imagine this place being a really great, warm pub to spend some time in — if it wasn’t filled with bloated suits and didn’t have sports playing on a TV in every sightline. There was even a sign advertising some game on another night called ‘Toss the Boss’. I don’t even want to know what that is.
We left after our pint to go somewhere cosier and I doubt we’ll be back to be honest. The hunt for a good CBD pub continues…

This unique establishment on Melbourne’s Collins Street sparks attention, and is inviting for all the right reasons. This establishment has a full on irish feel and ambience, and within good reason too, and could be packed out on St Patrick’s Day among other entertainment events this pub offers.
The Salt and Szechuan Pepper Squid at $ 14 a pop is to die for, and is much better than the salt and pepper squid you would order in Gold Class at the movies, although theirs is a knock out as well. If this item is anything to go by, I am so inclined to give their Bruschetta a try with a glass of wine there someday. Definitely the type of establishment you would want to go back to for seconds. The service is quick when you go there for dinner during the week.
The stereotype of the typical pub is blown out the window literally. There was no pub smell, or overly drunken people spoiling it for everybody else. No such behavious exist at The Sherlock Holmes Inn in a convenient location in Melbourne’s Collins Street. A great quality downstairs pub, and this is coming from someone who is not much of a pub goer in the first place.